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Roger Schlueter

MLB Notebook: Xander breaks one of Babe's records

MLB Notebook: Xander breaks one of Babe's records

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By Roger Schlueter
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MLB.com |

In their seven-game loss to the Senators in the 1924 World Series, the New York Giants penciled in 18-year-old Freddie Lindstrom as their starting third baseman for all seven games. Lindstrom batted .333 for the series and contributed a pair of doubles.

In the 2003 postseason, 20-year-old Miguel Cabrera made a total of six starts at third base for the Marlins. In those games, he collected two doubles and two home runs and helped his club win the National League pennant.

Last year, Baltimore's Manny Machado -- another 20-year-old -- started at third base in the American League Wild Card Game and in all five of his club's contests in the AL Division Series. In his six starts, Machado tallied three hits, including a double and a home run.

Of all the men to start at third base in a postseason affair, those are the only three who did it at a younger age than that of the starting third baseman for the Red Sox in their AL Championship Series Game 5 tussle on Thursday night: 21-year-old Xander Bogaerts.

2013 ALCS: Red Sox at Tigers, Game 5
Engaged in the fourth one-run game of this series, the Red Sox defeated the Tigers, 4-3, and took a 3-2 lead in the series. The Red Sox had four extra-base hits in the game, with doubles from David Ross and Bogaerts, plus a double and a homer from Mike Napoli.

Napoli's blast traveled an estimated 460 feet -- the longest for any postseason long ball since Prince Fielder's 460-foot shot in Game 4 of the 2008 National League Division Series.

• Bogaerts, who collected his second double of this ALCS in a 1-for-3 night, was 21 years and 16 days old for Game 5, becoming the youngest Red Sox starter in a postseason game. The previous youngest was Babe Ruth, who took the mound at the age of 21 years and 246 days in Game 2 of the 1916 World Series.

With the two-base hit in this game, Bogaerts became one of six players to have multiple extra-base hits in a single LCS before their 22nd birthday. The Mets' Wayne Garrett (21 years old) had two doubles and a home run in the 1969 NLCS; the Giants' Chris Speier (21 years old) had a double and a home run in the '71 NLCS; the Mets' Gregg Jefferies (21 years old) had a pair of doubles in the 1988 NLCS; Cabrera (20 years old) had three home runs in the 2003 NLCS; and the D-Backs' Justin Upton (20 years old) had a double and a triple in the '07 NLCS.

• Boston got a pair of steals from Jacoby Ellsbury and another swipe from Dustin Pedroia. The three steals were the most for the Red Sox in a postseason game. Their previous high of two had been accomplished 12 times, most recently in Game 1 of this year's ALCS.

Entering the 2013 ALCS, Boston had two postseason series in the franchise's history in which they stole multiple bases in multiple games: the 1903 World Series and the 2013 ALDS. Ellsbury has six stolen bases in this year's playoffs. Rickey Henderson (11 in 1989) and Kenny Lofton (11 in 1995) share the single-postseason record.

Ellsbury has 15 hits, four walks, four RBIs and nine runs to go along with those six steals in the 2013 playoffs. The Boston leadoff hitter has had three games in which he has collected at least one stolen base and one RBI. Three other players have had three such playoff games from the leadoff spot: Lofton in 1995, Brady Anderson in '97 and Alfonso Soriano in 2003.

• Koji Uehara recorded his fourth save of the 2013 playoffs with 1 2/3 innings of perfect ball. In this postseason, Uehara has thrown eight innings over seven appearances and has allowed no walks, four hits and one run (the game-ending home run to the Rays' Jose Lobaton in Game 3 of the ALDS) while striking out 11.

Uehara now has three multiple-inning saves in this year's playoffs. Only three closers have had more in one postseason. Goose Gossage had six multi-inning saves for the Yankees in 1981, Mariano Rivera had five each year with the Yankees in '98, 2000 and 2003, and four each in 1999 and 2001, and Jonathan Papelbon had four with the Red Sox in '07. Nine other relievers have had as many as three multiple-inning saves in a playoff year.

• With a tape-measure homer highlighting his line, Napoli is one of 20 first basemen to have a postseason game with at least one homer, one double and a total of at least three hits. He's the third Red Sox player among the 20, joining Mo Vaughn (3-for-5, a double, two homers and seven RBIs in Game 1 of the 1998 ALDS) and Kevin Youkilis (3-for-5, a double and a homer in Game 7 of the 2007 ALCS).

• The Red Sox improved to 38-11 (.776) all-time when collecting at least four extra-base hits in a postseason game. The overall record for all teams in such games is 495-192 (.721).

• After going a combined 12-for-90 (.133) in the first three games of this ALCS, Red Sox batters were 22-for-75 (.293) the past two contests.

• The four games decided by one run in this ALCS tie it with 1997 for the most in any ALCS.

• Jon Lester (5 1/3 innings) and three relievers held the Tigers without an extra-base hit in the game. The most recent postseason game in which the Tigers had nothing but singles and won came on Oct. 5, 1984, when they defeated the Royals, 1-0, in Game 3 of the ALCS. Since then, Detroit has dropped seven straight when failing to collect any doubles, triples or homers.

• The Tigers had 10 singles in the game. Those 10 were the most the club has had in a postseason contest in which it also had no extra-base hits. In Game 1 of the 1907 World Series, the Tigers had nine hits -- all singles. The most hits without an extra-base hit for any club in a postseason game is 14, a mark shared by the White Sox in Game 2 of the 1917 World Series and the Orioles in Game 2 of the '71 World Series.

Roger Schlueter is senior researcher for MLB Productions. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.